We bought the new boat, the F/V Minnow, a 26 foot
skiff with a wheelhouse forward, to dress and move
fish from the fishing grounds to our processor.
I went to the Taku area twice in September to buy
fish. The first day, I bought fish from fishermen as
they caught them. I got down to the fishing area just
before it opened, and spoke to a few boats about
selling me fish. I had 4 selling to me, and thought I
should get more as it started off slow. Gradually,
though, each boat brought their catch and got back to
their set, and in no time, I had all I could handle
and was grateful I’d not done more soliciting.
The boat is equipped with a 2 stroke washdown pump.
It worked fine, except it was like having a chainsaw
running all day. I switched to a 12 volt water pump
the second trip. That was much better, but I did have
to keep an eye on the battery so as not to run it down
too far before starting the engine and charging it
back up.
The seagulls were fun to observe. They knew I was
throwing overboard lots of good grub for them like
airbladders and roe, but just could not bring
themselves to come right up to the side of the boat to
get it. They’d let it sink before they’d cross an
imaginary distance to the boat where they felt safe.
You could almost see the anguish on their faces as the
roe sank out of reach to feed whatever critters dined
on it below.
The new boat looks like it will work great for what we
need. It was hard going further into debt at the end
of the season knowing the boat will now sit until we
can use it next spring, but I’m confident it’s exactly
what we need and the price was right.
Wow, what a lot of rain over the last 14 months, even
for the rainforest. I’m really looking forward to
some deer hunting once the leaves drop. With all the
rain, even if you get a day of relief and go hunting
when the foliage is still lush, you get soaked unless
you wear raingear as all the leaves hold the water
from the previous days rain.
–
Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
Wild Salmon and Salmon Pet Treats
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com
“GET OFF THE SOFA and VOTE FOR STOPHA!”
for Juneau Assembly, Oct. 2006
Download Campaign Sign at www.GoodSalmon.com